The Gain of Sacrifice
by Dark Memory
Summary: Sephiroth is realized to be back minutes after Meteor is stopped, and he had a "Plan B." Can Cloud sacrifice so many lives necessary to beat him this time?
1. Aftermath of the Known Events

Aftermath of the Known Events

The story I am about to tell you has been passed down for years. It is of the journey to our salvation; the fight for the planet. It is of the conquerors who struck down our death bringer, the one-winged angel, Sephiroth. This is the legend of how these two goliath monstrosities came to linger in our blackened skies for all eternity, to remind us of our fate, how we changed it, and how not to repeat it.

"Grandma, if you keep telling us this 'story' from the beginning, we'll never get to the end!"

"Don't call it a 'story'! This is a great legend; the reason we are still alive today to even be sitting here in Midgar. You don't understand what it was like back then. Living in constant fear…"

"I'm sorry grandma. I want to hear the story though! I want to know about Cloud!"

"Ah, yes. He is the man whom you were named after. You're parents were successful in picking the perfect name for you. You even resemble him! You are so lucky. Why I'm sure if we spiked your hair, you would look just like him, Cloud."

"Oh wow! You really saw him grandma? That's so cool!"

"Yes, I remember seeing him often back then. He was really close to my father. They used to fight like bitter enemies, they did sometimes. I remember one time seeing him, he gave me a flower. That was when I was still very young. We were inside the 7th Heaven, down in Sector 7."

--"Wow, Midgar was still in Sectors then? In school, we're just learning about the Unification."

"Yes dear, the Unification did not come until much later on. In fact, Sector 7 was destroyed long before the Unification. It was not until after that most of the debris was cleared away."

--"You know grandma, sometimes I don't realize just how old you are."

--"Do you want to go to bed now? Because I will make you, even though the sun is up."

--"I'm sorry but you just wont get to the story."

--"Then be a good boy and **stop interrupting me**."

--"Are those your father's genes talking?"

--"Hoo-ha, you are a clever one. Yes, Barret did have quite the short temper that, sadly, I did inherit."

--"Hehe, it is Barret's temper fighting with me, Cloud."

--"Just like the good old days."

"I believe I remember where I left off. Cloud and his party had just finished entering the depths of the Northern Crater."

When they reached the bottom of the massive scar in the earth, the spirit of the planet gushed all around them. They journeyed to the center of the earth where they faced Sephiroth's mother, Jenova, once again. After beating Jenova for what they thought to be the final time, they plunged into darkness. Inside the depths of this darkness, waiting for them, was Sephiroth. They first faced him in a bizarre, monster form; a chemical reaction from the Mako poisoning. He had harnessed his madness into a form only he could take, and yet still control, unlike Hojo. The team split into three groups, and one by one, the pieces of the diabolical creation fell. When the dust settled, the core of the monster opened to reveal the final form of Sephiroth, the One Winged Angel. He raged on with the strength of a supernova, but it was Cloud and his team that prevailed in the end.

After the battle, Cloud faced his own inner demon. The battle was a result of pent up hatred; the hatred of always being second to Sephiroth. Though they had just destroyed him, something was wrong. Why would Cloud feel second best to someone he had just beaten? It was because somewhere deep inside, he had a feeling that this fight wasn't over. And boy was he right. Though they had destroyed his body, Sephiroth still existed in the depths of Cloud's mind. After releasing his own inner subconscious, he fell into the darkness of his past; the Sephiroth he had thought he had known. The Sephiroth he had fought side by side against in the Mako reactor that day, when his friendship was betrayed. He struggled against his mind for what seemed like hours, when he finally broke. Everything inside him fueled a powerful Omnislash attack that sliced Sephiroth into submission.

When he came to, Tifa and Cloud evacuated the crater onto the Highwind. There, Cid flew for his life to escape the destruction just behind them. There, in the window of the cockpit, they gazed unto Anima, the colossal result of Sephiroth's Black Materia. The Meteor, Anima, broke into the planet's atmosphere. It is said to have come almost a hundred feet just above the Shinra Office Building before being confronted by the heavenly power of the White Materia, Holy. The lands of the earth twisted and roared in a fierce energy struggle. Tornados of the life stream flowed up above the ground all around. It lasted six minutes, but the Meteor, Anima, was finally stopped. The clash of all the magic somehow distorted the gravity around that area in our atmosphere. That is why Anima still lingers there today in our sky.

Aboard the Highwind, Cloud told his team about what had happened in the crater. Yuffie and Cid called him crazy, but Vincent had a different feeling. He knew of premonitions; he had been through some in his long sleep. He told Cloud not to be surprised if Sephiroth was alive. The tone of the ship suddenly became solemn. They did not feel victorious. Somehow deep inside, Cloud's battle with Sephiroth in his mind weighed heavily upon them. How could Sephiroth still be alive after all they just fought him with? They didn't need to look for a reason. After all, if they needed a reminder of his power, they could just look out the window and gaze into the sky.

The crew needed a new destination, but where to go? If Sephiroth really was alive, how would they know, or even where to start looking? They decided to look for this wisdom in the Cosmo Canyon. Cloud visited the Astronomy room to gaze at the planets in orbit; of course there was a new entity hovering over the earth, but it was all pretty much the same. It was then that he caught sight of what he had left in this room a few days ago. Cloud could not put together any part of this puzzle yet, but he knew that the Huge Materia must have something to do with it. Why would the planet create Huge Materia? If the materia was merely Mako energy condensed, then how could it ever reach this state, and what made it so much more powerful than ordinary materia?

Cloud took the Huge Materia crystals with him. They left the Cosmo Canyon with no new insight on their situation.

_"You know I can't be gone…."_

The voice awoke Cloud with a violent start. This could not continue. Sephiroth was still very much alive, and powerful enough to call to him from wherever he was hiding. Or, he was just going crazy, but this explanation seemed unlikely. Just as he was about to leave his cabin and head onto the deck, Tifa ran in. "Come quick, you have to see this Cloud!"

The Highwind now soared over the Midwest continent. They approached the large, square-shaped crater; the only remains of The Temple of the Ancients. But something was different, or wrong. In this crater, four new objects stood rising above the ground, but only to sea level. Upon their descent, they realized that they were also miniature temples. With no other clues or strange occurrences to go on, they assumed that this should be their next stop. Though Barret suggested that the team split into four groups, Cloud and the rest agreed that if these temples were anything like the original, that it would be too dangerous without the entire team.

They all approached the entrance to the temple closest to the Highwind. They walked up the stairs for what seemed like three minutes of pure climbing. When they finally reached the door, they gazed into the main chamber. It had the same layout as the Temple of the Ancients. There was a glass basin at the end of the room; above, a parchment with written text of the Ancients. A familiar female voice in Cloud's head read him the parchment, and he in turn read it to his team. "Here lies the gate to our true power. Place the Key Stones into the respective basins to open the realms of these temples. You will face many hardships, and at the end, you will face the guardian of this temple. If you prevail, it will grant you its power. These temples standing here can only mean that this planet is once against struggling for the right to its existence."

After reading the message, they knew that this would be very, very much like before. Only last time they had a Key Stone! Somehow they got the impression that Dio at the Gold Saucer wouldn't have four more though, and thought hard on how they could enter. How could he forget? Immediately, Cloud placed the Huge Materia of Magic into the basin and they were thrust into the ancient world once again.

Gazing upon the twisting staircases in every direction, Barret said, "$&!!!" A few hours later, they reached a room of a giant circular clock. After three dead end routes, they finally reached a mazelike room where they had caught the small, Ancient man months ago. This time, the heavy, metal door was already opened.

The candle-lit, pyramid-like hallway was a sight to see. Upon its walls were pictures that signified something that no one could interpret. The last wall inscription was obvious; a giant meteor. No one could mistake that. But upon this wall, the clues were far vaguer. At the end of the hall, they could make out a small pedestal, much like the one that contained the Black Materia. There, they faced a large entity; the guardian of the temple. It was a large green dragon, roughly twice as large as how the temple appeared to be from the outside. The green dragon, Kamaya, fought against Cloud and his team valiantly, for to him, they were intruders. After Yuffie performed a successful "All Creation" level 4 Limit Break, Red XIII cast a "Wall" spell to protect the group. Cloud unleashed a "Knights of the Round" summon spell for massive damage against the beast. The dragon fell to the ground, and it was at this point that its armor began to open from the center. It revealed a large energy core, powered by the same Huge Materia of Magic that Cloud had used as the Key Stone. The Materia flashed violently and was followed by blinding streams of green and teal which filled the now blackened room. The dragon triple-cast an "Ultima" spell that would have wiped out at last two members of the team had "Wall" not been in effect.

After the dragons beautiful and powerful display of force, it collapsed and shattered into pieces that soon vanished. The team approached the pedestal to find what appeared to be a stick and a vat of goop. Once again Barret muttered something like, "All that work for this $#!!??" When Cait Sith attempted to pick up this "stick", however, the hand of his stuffed body burned away. Everyone was relieved that it had not been them who picked it up, but rather someone with an "expendable" hand. Then came the voice again. _"Pick it up my puppet. Do not fear it."_

Cloud screamed in agony. He fell to his knees and clutched the temples of his head. When he awoke possessed, the team wondered what he would do this time, considering last time that he gave the Black Materia to Sephiroth. When this Cloud grabbed the "stick", it began to pulse in his hands while burning them up with heat. He placed the stick in the vat of green goop. The object was no longer a stick, but a glorious golden handle, embedded with gemstones, but for what purpose?

Sephiroth spoke to the group through Cloud as if they were equals. _"So you continue to threaten the life of this planet? You are all fools. I am not your enemy. The only way to save this mockery of life is through destruction. Do you know what the writing on these walls tell of? Allow me to read it to you. 'And with the halting of Anima, the force of Holy will be dispersed forever more. The One Winged Angel from above shall purify the world with chaos and lead all worthy to the holy land, The Promised Land.' This handle is to the 'Diamond Breaker'. Take it to each temple and power it up. It will have the ability to destroy life energy, even in its purest form."_

Cloud began to fight the apparition in his head, but to the rest of the team it appeared as though he began to argue with himself. "Why would we want to destroy life energy Sephiroth!?"

_"How do you think I still exist? Though you halted my first summoning of Anima, my 'other' plan was a complete success. You see, I have become one with the planet! I will destroy this place from within the Life Stream, and if you wish to stop me you must destroy the Planet's Spirit. This will cause the earth to become unstable, and it will crumble into the darkness of space! The plan is flawless. I know because I can read these walls that show my prophecy; the prophecy written by The Cetra and my mother generations ago. It is all already planned out. Even with me telling you all this and helping you have these pieces of the puzzle, you still won't win. You can't change your planet's fate; the walls prove it!"_

Cloud awoke on the Highwind, hoping that every temple would not be responded to with a visit from Sephiroth. His weary mind could not take this all in. It wasn't fair. They had tried so hard, yet they still failed. The only thing that hurt more was the thought that their failure had already been predicted long before normal people even inhabited the earth. And the writings on the walls, what did they mean? "Shall purify the world with chaos…" He couldn't let this happen, but for now all he could do was follow what Sephiroth said and power the Diamond Breaker. He knew that Sephiroth wasn't lying about that. He was the darkest evil, yet he had told nothing but the truth for his confidence in his plan was unwavering.


	2. Second Slaughter

Second Slaughter

The next temple stood boldly in the sunlight. After the last bout with the Guardian Kamaya, this new temple seemed all the more menacing. A brief discussion was held in the Highwind over what the group's next plan of action would be. It was unanimous that they would listen to Sephiroth and attempt to power the Diamond Breaker. Would they be able to do it? After all, they were already fated to fail. Why else would Sephiroth help them?

The team of warriors approached the temple and reveled at the basin in front of them. Which materia crystal would they use as the keystone this time? Horrible memories of the other day made their way into Cloud's mind; the suffering pain of Ultima. The guardian had used the most powerful magic spell known, and emitted it from none other than the Huge Materia keystone in its core. If the temple guardians attacked with commands from the Huge Materia, then the Red Huge Materia should give way to the most powerful guardian. The team was not physically or mentally prepared to face summon magic yet. They did not want to think of the suffering that their own summon beasts could inflict upon them. Eventually they would have to endure the pain that they had caused countless enemies, but not yet.

Vincent placed the Yellow Huge Materia into the glass basin. The world around them began to spin, curses flew from Barret's mouth, and once again they stood atop one of hundreds of staircases in the bizarre room. After deciding to allow the members of the team who fought yesterday to rest, Cloud decided that today's battling team would be Tifa, Cid, and himself. After passing most of the obstacles of the temple and after countless battles of experiencing gaining, the team finally reached the room across from the temple's final hallway. The team double-checked their item supply, cast some much-needed "Cure" spells, and proceeded to file into the hallway.

It was obvious from the writing on the walls that this temple's message was very different. It depicted a man with what appeared to be a ghost erupting from his stomach. They could not read the Cetran writing above the picture, but one thing was unmistakable: the look of agony on the man's face.

_"Frightening picture isn't it?"_

Once again the team stood face to face with the almighty Sephiroth. Though fueled by anger, Cloud could not help but feel grateful that he was facing an apparition of Sephiroth than actually "being" Sephiroth through possession.

_"The images on these walls show a man in blissful pain, willingly giving his soul for his planet. Much like I did, but in a far less 'heroic' fashion…It won't take me long to read you the writing this time; its only two words!"_

The words rang in Cloud's mind and he was once again filled with memories of Aerith; memories he was not prepared to handle now. The whole team was filled with a sense of horror, for they knew not what would happen next…

_"Sacrificial Chamber. 'The righteous shall stand before the alter of the spirit breaking sword and offer himself to the temple. This will provide the fuel to summon the guardian of the temple.' I can hardly wait to see who will go! I've never seen this particular ceremony performed and I am quite anxious to see how this turns out! Why would I have seen it? This temple arising from the ground is proof that the planet is in a grave danger, the likes of which it has never known. I'm almost honored!"_

"Shut up, now!" Cloud stepped menacingly towards Sephiroth, Hard Edge already clutched tightly in his hands. "I can't decide this, it's not fair! We've been through this together. I've… already lost one person who was very important to me..."

_"What do you plan to do, fight someone who isn't here!? Stop being so dramatic. You never thought twice about slaying those who opposed you, what makes you people so special!? Anyway, choose quickly. I have preparation to do and I wanted to see this. Don't worry: I won't interfere too much…"_

Quick thinking usually leads to reckless actions. What happened next was a perfect example. Cloud dashed ahead of the group and sprinted as fast as his body could, all in a great effort to reach the other side of the hallway. He would attempt to steal the next object needed to make the divine sword; no sacrifices, no guardian battle necessary.

_"No! That will not work!" _bellowed Sephiroth from across the hall._ "The sacrifice is necessary. Go ahead, try and grab the blade and reach into the solution. Your hand will be burned clear off your arm. Only one who has beaten the guardian may power the Diamond Breaker, and only a sacrifice in this particular temple can awaken that guardian. **I am tired of waiting. Make your decision…"**_

Cloud looked down at the rusted blade in his hand. It was unusable in this condition. He would not trade the life of a comrade for the planet. Since when did he start caring about the fate of the planet? In the beginning he had worked for AVALANCHE; had stated perfectly clear that he didn't give a damn about the planet. Would he trade for it one of the great friendships he had developed? Why was he suddenly thinking like this? He knew he cared for the planet and he knew what was right, but how to go about it? If the Ancients truly wanted the planet to survive this attack, why would they make a trial this devastating in the first place!?

"_**Times up! **You are trying to think of alternate ways of solving this dilemma, of which there are none. Your reasoning is futile and you are boring me beyond my limitations. So… allow me… to **Spice things up a bit!!"**_

Without turning to allow any previous warning of his actions, the ghostly apparition thrust his Masamune behind him, wielding the six foot long sword effortlessly. In the instant that followed, no one knew what to do or say: It had all happened so fast. The silence was shattered by a scream from Yuffie. Tifa lay lifeless on the ground, bleeding immensely from the sword wound. Cloud ran up to her sobbing. He had only recently realized the strength of his emotions for her. Both the loves of his life, taken from him by the same man; it was too painful. Running down the alter steps, Cloud took a deep breath and leapt into the air. The room flashed with in a dazzling display of yellow and blue. Cloud fell to the ground, his sword lying heavily in the temple floor's scar that he had created. Before he could even recognize how his "Braver" Limit Break had missed his opponent, his neck was pinned against the cold steel of the Masamune.

_"Must I remind you that I am not **here? **And what exactly are you complaining for? She was touched by an angel, and now you don't even have to make a decision! Save your anger; you'll need it. The guardian will be among us soon. I have yet to see your true strength… don't disappoint me, Cloud."_


	3. Character Manipulation

Character Manipulation

As soon as he had come, Sephiroth was gone. Cloud could not even recognize the moment his neck was free of the blade. The ground twisted and turned with tremors that shook the party almost off their feet. Immediately afterwards, the team felt the awesome presence of a powerful enemy; one that they could not see.

The floor once again began to rumble violently. The ground beneath them rose upwards as a platform, and at first they believed that they would rise into the ceiling and be crushed. Not long after they realized that the ceiling was also rising in proportion with the floor, but only on their side of the room. The entire hallway was now slanted, as if uphill. The alter with the next piece of the Diamond Breaker was now at the foot of this hill; they needed to look over the edge of the floor to see it beneath them, yet still a great distance away. No one knew why this was all happening until they realized that their footing was starting to slip because of the angle of the floor.

Tifa's nearly lifeless body suddenly began to roll downhill towards the alter. Cloud extended his body to try and grab her, but Vincent grabbed him. The hill was too steep and he could not afford rolling downhill with Tifa. The party watched helplessly as Tifa's body built up momentum and rolled faster and faster. It appeared that she would hit the wall near the bottom with so much force, it would make the Masamune wound pale in comparison.

Halfway down her descent, the floor began to right itself. So quickly in fact, that most of the team had been in the air for a few seconds before landing back on their feet. By now Tifa was at the end of the long hallway. She began to slow down and stopped just before touching the alter wall.

The party breathed a sigh of relief. Cloud began to make his way towards the end of the hallway to reunite with his companion. His fourth step was interrupted; the alter moved aside, revealing a smaller pedestal. On the pedestal, staring at Cloud knee-length was the Yellow Huge Materia. The materia glowed and sparkled. Tifa vanished and in her place a large dragon began to appear. Cloud actually needed to run a few feet in the opposite direction to avoid starting the battle directly beneath this new boss.

The dragon was in every way more distinguished than Kamaya. The Amber Dragon of Command, Omisedion, now stood in the way of the planet's defenders. It was about the same size as Kamaya, but much fiercer. It had two more rows of teeth than its predecessor, and a beautiful layer of golden armor extending all the way down to its heavily plated, spiked tail. Cid struck first with an "Ice 3" spell that did an average amount of damage to the dragon. No particular attack seemed to work well, but no attack stood out due to the high resistance of this non-elemental dragon. Barret stood in for Tifa, the warrior who should have been standing beside Cloud, helping him win. Barret attacked quickly with his Level 4 Limit Break "Catastrophe." After leaping high up into the air until he was well over the dragons head, he unleashed a radiant blast of energy from the gun grafted into his arm. This nearly beat the dragon on its own!

Omisedion attacked with various attacks known from the team's own command materia. It slowly turned around; it wasn't likely to be retreating. After making a half-circle with its body, it swung its large spiked tail around its torso and hit Cid hard, knocking him into a wall. The attack was "Deathblow," and it was strong enough to take Cid out of the match. Cloud felt confident that he could take the dragon out successfully with his next sword technique, but decided that he would spend his first turn saving Cid. Cloud activated "Life 2" from the sparkling green crystal in his Hard Edge's materia slot. Cid awoke, startled, but read to continue fighting nonetheless.

Cid next attacked the dragon with "Slow." The area around the dragon became hazy. The spell created a metaphysical clock, and as its hands spun round and round counter-clockwise, the dragon appeared to relax. Its chest fluctuated at a reduced pace, and the slower breaths of the dragon further signified that the spell had worked. Though the dragon may have been slowed, it still attacked with a unsuspected command; "Mime." The very same ethereal clock came into view, only this time it split midair into three. Each clock made its way to the battling team's heads and reversely spun. Everyone was slowed. It now appeared that Cid's turn would mean nothing; the team and the dragon now moved at the same sluggish pace.

Next was Barret's turn. Activating his Enemy Skill Materia, he used "Beta," an incredible fire-based explosion learned from his encounter with the Midgar Zolom. The "Beta" technique was not easily acquired; the Zolom was far too powerful to face on first encounter and was avoided by chocobo. Upon a second return to that side of the continent, the party reencountered the Zolom and survived the attack to add it to their collection of Enemy Skills. The amazing flame blast hit the creature with thousands of points worth of damage. The Amber Dragon of Command began to slouch over as it became harder for it to stand. It would focus all of its energy into one strategy.

Omisedion lowered its head to the party's level. It opened its mouth wide, unhinging its jaw. As the team stared blankly at the dragon what would happen next, the darkened walls of Omisedion's throat was illuminated with gold. Cloud knew what this meant; the dragon would use its last, probably most powerful attack in an effort to take them with it. The Yellow Huge Materia's bright beam of light crept its way out of the dragon's mouth and swirled through the air. With a quick bolt of speed, the light erupted into Barret who hit the floor hard.

For a moment Cloud thought that the battle was over. It appeared that Barret had been the sole-defender of the dragon's final move. Barret, despite not having moved since the attack, seemed to be very okay. Omisedion then began to evaporate. In a few moments, all that was left was a lingering cloud of yellow smoke; smoke that then found its way into Barret's body.

"Manipulation" took effect on Barret. He began to shake convulsively, obviously trying to fight it off. "Not gonna #& get me….," he mumbled. Then, he doubled over backwards in an unpleasant looking contortion. Barret stood himself upright and proceeded to walk towards the other end of the room. After putting a fair amount of distance between him and Cloud, he turned slowly to face his long-time friend and rival, and shot him.

"What's wrong with you; have you lost your damn mind!?" Cid's words reverberated through the room and was followed by another "crack;" Barret's gun arm. Cid's wound appeared to be far worse than Cloud's was. Cid fell to his knees and cast a "Cure 3" spell for both him and Cloud. They realized that reasoning with the chaotic puppet Barret would not be persuaded, yet they could not attack them. He was a friend; a hero. A new strategy would need to be devised.

Cloud new of a healing spell that could help in this situation. Cure spells would not work because they would only heal their enemy's injuries, but there was another. The tricky part of it was if it was to work, Barret would need to cast it upon itself.

Running up to Barret, Cloud leapt off of the ground and raised his sword across his stomach. Barret knew this attack and had seen it against many enemies before. It was the Limit Break "Meteorain." Barret instinctively raised his machinegun arm to protect his face from the coming collisions. Cloud had counted on this. When Barret stopped looking to hide from the attack, Cloud landed and removed the materia from the slots on the gun. He replaced all the attack material with a single Cure materia. Barret was enraged and began to shoot his gun off in various angles, recklessly ricocheting bullets off walls and missing all possible targets. When he was finally exhausted he attempted to heal himself with the crystal Cloud had given him. The results were not of a standard cure spell. A powerful, green aura surrounded the manipulated ally and the "Esuna" spell took effect. When Barret returned to his senses, he had no recollection of how he came to stand on opposing sides of his team.


End file.
